Heart of Darkness
by windstorm16
Summary: No summary yet.


**Hello all Storm here with a new story idea! Here will be an idea I don't believe has been done before, I won't spoil anything, so I hope you enjoy the story, So, without further ado.**

**I own nothing**

'At last, I can finally see if it is possible!' Thought the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, gleefully as he stood in a chamber within his base in the Land of Rice.

The chamber was empty aside from a large, intricate Fuinjutsu circle, while in the center of the circle was an unconscious fourteen-year-old boy with spiky blonde hair, whisker marks on his cheeks, and wearing a tattered orange jumpsuit.

Orochimaru walked around the chamber, looking over the many different seals that make up the circle were all perfectly in place and done correctly. There was no room for error, no mistakes, everything must be done correctly for what could be considered one of his greatest achievements, that is if it all goes as Orochimaru envisioned it.

As he looked over the seals, Orochimaru's mind drifted back many years ago to when he first desired to obtain the knowledge of all the Jutsu in the world and immortality.

The Sannin didn't recall the exact moment, but it had been during one of his many attempts to unlock the secrets of immortality, he had a moment of realization. How could he ever hope to achieve immortality, if he did not fully understand the heart.

Though when he refers to the heart, he doesn't mean the literal organ, but instead the metaphysical animating force. That which gives people life, pushes them forward. That is the heart Orochimaru desired to understand and unlock its secrets.

So, Orochimaru began to research and study the heart, a difficult task since no one had ever tried studying it before. Even after all these years, Orochimaru still didn't fully understand the heart and has only made a few discoveries.

However, the only discovery that Orochimaru made about the heart, was that all hearts contained both light and darkness, the latter of which was formed from the darker aspects of people; like greed and anger for example. This discovery had lead Orochimaru to a new theory.

Was it possible to separate the light and darkness within a person's heart?

That is what Orochimaru desired to learn, if it was possible to remove a person's light or darkness from within their heart. If so, could they still be considered a person, or two separate beings of pure light or pure darkness? Would they still share a connection with the separated part of themselves, would they be considered incomplete and thus unable to die?

These were questions the Sannin hoped to be able to find the answers to. To do this, he spent years researching Fuinjutsu to create a seal that could separate the light and darkness within people's hearts. Of course, even after the completion of the seal, Orochimaru hasn't been able to test it, as he had no viable test subjects to use.

He wished to test it on a person who had a more balanced light and darkness within them, rather than someone who has more light than darkness, or vice versa. While Orochimaru didn't know what would happen, it was possible the end result would leave the subject catatonic or worse.

So, for the time, he put his research on the heart on hold until he could find a suitable guinea pig to use.

And he just so happened to find the perfect one, in one Naruto Uzumaki.

When Orochimaru first saw him in the Forest of Death, he originally dismissed the boy as just a nuisance, not even worth his time. Then when he saw him again and saw he had mastered the Rasengan to the point of being able to incapacitate Kabuto, he tried killing him before he could become a thorn in his side. But it was when Orochimaru watched Naruto and Sasuke fight in the Valley of the End, he considered the Jinchuuriki a suitable candidate.

At first the Sannin had gone to collect Sasuke himself, given the Sound Four took too long to bring the Uchiha to him, he's been forced to take another host body. He'd then gone to get Sasuke, arriving just in time to see the two boys final clash, Sasuke in the Second Stage of his Curse Mark and Naruto covered in the Kyuubi's Chakra, a single tail behind him. When the dust cleared, both boys were on the ground, unconscious and back to normal.

Orochimaru had actually admitted the display of power was impressive, given how young they were, and was sure if given enough time and training, they'd be incredibly powerful.

Going over to the two, Orochimaru then contemplated both as subjects for his experiment of separating a person's light and darkness. First, he considered Sasuke, before immediately dismissing the Uchiha as having too much darkness in his heart to be a candidate. The experiment could very likely kill him at worst and leave him comatose at best, and Orochimaru still desired the Sharingan for himself.

Then he moved onto Naruto and found that was the closest he could get to a person with an equal amount of light and darkness in their heart. Given how he was hated and ignored by the villagers for containing the Kyuubi, he had to have plenty of darkness locked away, while also still having plenty of light from his desire to protect his friends and even the people who hate him.

Yes, he'd prove to be the perfect subject.

So, with his decision made, and sensing the approaching Kakashi Hatake, Orochimaru grabbed Naruto and returned to his base. While it was disappointing to lose the Sharingan, the Snake Sannin knew he could grab Sasuke another time and he was nothing if not patient.

All this leading up to the Sannin going over the final preparations for his experiment to extract the darkness from within Naruto's heart.

Nodding in satisfaction at seeing everything was in order, Orochimaru went through several handsigns before slamming his hands on the ground.

"Darkness Releasing Method!" Orochimaru said as the seal lit up with dark energy and purple smoke.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he gasped, while a bright light shined in his chest as an orb of light rose out of his chest. The orb rose into the air, while the dark energy from the seal shot up and swirled around it in a sphere of darkness. When the darkness dispelled, it revealed a boy Naruto's age, wearing a black and red organic-looking bodysuit, a domed silver helmet covered in black glass, hiding his face from view, and surrounded in a purple aura.

Once it was over, the light from Naruto's chest vanished and he fell unconscious once more.

The masked boy floated down to the ground, as Orochimaru looked on in amazement.

'It actually worked.' Thought Orochimaru, having had his doubts the experiment would succeed.

But it worked, he successfully separated the light and darkness within a person's heart!

Looking down at Naruto, Orochimaru saw that while he was still alive, he was sure the boy wouldn't be waking up any time soon, or forever for that matter.

'I suppose I can return him to Konoha, I have no use for a boy trapped in a coma.' Orochimaru thought smirking, as he imagined the looks on his former teammates faces when they see the state Naruto is in.

Though perhaps Tsunade with her skill in Medical Ninjutsu might be able to wake him up, given enough time to heal the damage. If she does, then Orochimaru could look forward to an eventual clash between Naruto and his newly released darkness, and if she can't, then it just means the brat can't cause him anymore problems. Plus, he's not dead, so Orochimaru didn't have to worry about the Akatsuki coming after him.

'Now what to do with you.' Thought Orochimaru, looking at the masked boy.

He supposed he should give him a name rather than just keep referring to him as "Naruto's darkness" or "the masked boy".

Looking at him, Orochimaru already had the perfect name in mind.

"Empty creature from Naruto riven...to you, the name Vanitas shall be given." Said Orochimaru, feeling rather poetic after the success of his experiment.

"Yes, my name is…Vanitas." Vanitas said.

*Timeskip-Four Years*

Four years have passed since Vanitas was "born" and many interesting things have happened since then.

The most noticeable manifested a key shaped sword, which he had later learned was a Keyblade, along with knowing it was called Void Gear. Another interesting thing was when Vanitas showed the power to create creatures known as the Unversed, that were composed entirely of negative emotions and are an extension of Vanitas himself, following his every command. Even when they're destroyed they simply return to Vanitas, resulting in more negative emotions, resulting in him creating more Unversed.

He had also called them Unversed because they are "those who are not well-versed in their own existences".

The final thing was Vanitas learning to access the power of Darkness, given he himself was a being of pure darkness. The Darkness granting Vanitas a wide range of powers at his disposal.

Chakra wise, Vanitas possessed the Meiton Kekkei Genkai, which allowed him to absorb Chakra then launch it back with amplified strength. He could also generate Dark Chakra. He'd also created dark counterparts of the Jutsu Naruto knew, Spiraling Ring, Great Spiraling Ring, and Nine Masked Beasts, the latter of which he used to create nine special Unversed.

Vanitas was confident in his power and knew he could crush any opponent that tried fighting him.

Unfortunately, while Vanitas's strength had grown, not everything was going as good. Not long after Orochimaru had returned the comatose Naruto back to Konoha, his weaker half had died.

During the experiment to separate Vanitas from Naruto, Orochimaru had also unintentionally ripped apart the Kyuubi. Since the Kyuubi had already been split in half when it was first sealed in Naruto, it couldn't handle the strain of Naruto and Vanitas being split apart and was destroyed, no reforming, no escaping, simply gone.

The only reason Vanitas hadn't joined his weaker self in death is because at the time he didn't possess a physical form and was only Naruto's darkness, nor did he require the Kyuubi sealed in him to survive, like Naruto did. The only thing Vanitas regretted was he didn't get to kill his light half himself or get to watch the life drain from him for all the years Naruto kept him locked away.

But while Vanitas was happy that Naruto was dead, the action made it so Orochimaru and all his followers were now number one on the Hit Lists of Konoha, the Akatsuki, and all those Naruto befriended prior to his death. The only good thing that came from this was the massive amount of negative emotions created from their anger and sadness, which Vanitas can absorb to create more and stronger Unversed. Along with the fact no one knew of his existence, so he was safe from their wrath.

Vanitas may be confident in his power, but he wasn't foolish enough to fight two Great Villages, the Akatsuki, and a handful of smaller nations.

Still, Vanitas knew it'd only be a matter of time before his existence was discovered, along with his affiliations to Orochimaru, which would put a target on his back. Even more so if they discovered just how he was created.

With this in mind, Vanitas jumped ship, not willing to let himself be dragged down with the Snake Sannin and had opened a Corridor of Darkness, one of the abilities granted to him by the Darkness, to take him away from the Elemental Nations and the planet as a whole.

One thing Vanitas learned was that Corridors of Darkness didn't just allow for traveling large distances, but traversing different worlds, which he had experimented with to see where he could go.

This lead to Vanitas meeting his new master, Xehanort.

He had met Xehanort after he left his previous apprentice, Ventus, with his old friend and fellow Keyblade Master, Eraqus. Ironically, Xehanort had been trying to extract the darkness within Ventus's heart in a manner similar to what Orochimaru did, only it was much easier with a Keyblade.

Only Xehanort's attempts failed and after meeting Vanitas, he realized why he failed in his endeavor. Someone had already succeeded in creating the being Xehanort himself sought to create, and in order to prevent a paradox of their being two of the same beings, the Universe prevented Xehanort from creating his own Vanitas from Ventus's darkness.

While they would have had different origins, they were still enough of the same person for the Universe to stop Xehanort.

Though Xehanort still took Vanitas on as his apprentice, as despite the fact he wasn't created the way Xehanort desired, he was still a being of darkness that Xehanort required for his plans. It didn't hurt that he was the perfect apprentice as well.

All this having lead up to the current moment of Vanitas hiding in the Land of Departure, having observed the Mark of Mastery Exam between Eraqus's two apprentices Aqua and Terra. Given Xehanort still had to keep up appearance of being a good Keyblade Master, he oversaw the Exam along with Eraqus.

Vanitas also took notice of Ventus, the kid his master would have used to create different version of himself, if Orochimaru didn't already separate him from Naruto, watching the Exam. Personally, Vanitas wasn't impressed with the kid, his attitude and appearance reminding him too much of his weaker half.

Currently Vanitas was hidden with his helmet off. Under his helmet, Vanitas looked identical to Naruto aside from having black hair, more jagged whisker marks, paler skin, and the yellow eyes, common to those who use the power of Darkness.

"What do you make of Ventus?" Xehanort asked, walking up to Vanitas and bringing him out of his thoughts.

"I'm not impressed, I doubt he would have even had enough darkness in him to make another version of me. Though maybe if I knocked the loser around a little, he'd prove useful." Said Vanitas, with Xehanort giving him a warning look.

"Not here, you won't. I have to keep up appearances. Though I believe you have a point. In my haste to recreate the X-Blade, I didn't see that separating the darkness from Ventus wouldn't create something so powerful. If anything, it would have only resulted in an imperfect version." Xehanort admitted that he was too hasty in his desire for the ultimate Keyblade to see the errors of his plan.

"Which is why, in addition to pushing Terra down the path of Darkness, we're scouting for the Seven Princesses of Light." Vanitas pointed out, with Xehanort nodding before looking down at his hand.

"Indeed. But now I'm an old man, I will need to put my heart in a younger vessel if I wish to see my plans come to fruition." Said Xehanort, knowing he'll need a younger body if he wanted to see his plans succeed in the future.

Hearing this, Vanitas tsk'd and put his helmet back on.

"Careful master, you're starting to sound like that snake." Vanitas warned, since if Xehanort ended up becoming like Orochimaru, obsessed with immortality, he wouldn't hesitate to take the old man out himself.

"And what about little Ven, should I try and push him to chase after Terra?" Vanitas asked, having been filled in on the original plan by Xehanort.

The original plan being to have Ventus and his inner darkness battle each other to recreate the X-Blade.

"Yes, while he may no longer be useful in creating a new X-Blade, he can still prove useful in pushing Terra down the path of Darkness." Xehanort answered, with Vanitas giving a mock salute.

"Will do. I'll be sure to give the brat the perfect incentive to leave home. Later, you old bastard." Vanitas said, before going through a Corridor of Darkness.

"Hmph, kids these days, no respect for their elders." Said Xehanort with a small chuckle.

*Later*

"Better hurry Ventus…" Vanitas said, leaning against Ventus's desk after appearing in his room.

"Huh? Who are you?" Ventus questioned in surprise at the sudden appearance of this dark dressed boy.

"Or you'll never see Terra again." Continued Vanitas as if he didn't hear the question.

"What? Get real. I can see Terra anytime I want." Ventus retorted, a little angry at this guy's words, while Vanitas smirked under his mask.

"Like right now? He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up…he'll be a different person." 'Quite literally in fact.' Vanitas said, adding the last part in his mind.

"Look, whoever you are, you don't know the first thing about Terra. Me and him will always be a team. So, you trying to pick a fight or what?" Ventus questioned ready to summon his Keyblade and fight this guy.

"Oh, grow up." Said Vanitas, walking to the center of the room while getting angry at Ventus's words.

It reminded him too much of Naruto and how obsessed he was with Sasuke. In fact, all three of Eraqus's apprentices reminded him too much of Team Seven.

'But a least Eraqus actually teaches his students and Aqua is way hotter than that pink gorilla.' Vanitas thought, before dismissing those thoughts and sticking to the plan.

"Is that what you call friendship? You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself." Said Vanitas, looking at Ventus.

"Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world?" Vanitas questioned, while creating a Corridor of Darkness, which he walked through, knowing he planted the seeds in Ventus's mind.

Now he just had to kick back and watch the show unfold, all while making sure to keep pushing Ventus in the right direction.

**So, what did you think, good. Yep Vanitas has been created by Orochimaru through extracting the darkness within Naruto's heart, while Xehanort could not extract the darkness from Ventus due to the Universe preventing the existence of two beings of pure darkness. Not only that but Vanitas still has his Void Gear, the Unversed, and the power of Darkness, along with Meiton, Dark Chakra, and Menma's Jutsu's from "Road to Ninja". He also left the Elemental Nations, not wishing to get caught in the crossfire, and is now Xehanort's apprentice and helping him in his plans to forge the X-Blade. So, review if you liked go away if you didn't, and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

**Storm out**


End file.
